I was reading through the 'Colonoscopy' thread and all the postings are several years old.

Also, who are Dr. JP, Dr. Juan Pablo, Dr. Oscar? I tried to find each one of these doctors using various search approaches, but no results. Is it against posting rules to provide full names and contact information (office association and location)?

Folks here have the irritating habit of identifying their doctors by first names only. And to confuse things even further, several docs have the same first name. Dr. JP and Dr. Juan Pablo refer to Dr. Juan Pablo Loza in Chapala. I have no idea who Dr Oscar is or what kind of medicine he practices.

I am going to refer you to the other board (TOB)...http://www.chapala.com/wwwboard/webboard.htmlClick on the heading Ajijic/Chapala/Guadalajara and then enter "Colonoscopy Questions" in the search box at the top of that forum and it will bring up the topic started by Al Berca on August 27th, 2017. Three pages of back and forth and I took a lot of shit (pun intended) for what I posted. Information never hurt anyone but some people have very constipated (pun intended) views.One thing most people agreed on was that this is a procedure that should be done in a hospital where emergency surgical intervention is available because perforations can and do happen. That would be Guadalajara NOT LOCALLY.

Thank you both, Gamina and Ferret, for your answers - that was very helpful. Now comes the part of doing more research on all the doctors and hospitals mentioned - but I do see a drive to Guadalajara in my future.

Yes, I agree that no invasive procedure should be done here in any of these clinics. And I avoid any doctor here that advises that as they are only thinking of the money. If an emergency intervention is needed, you would be at least an hour away from an emergency room or a surgical unit. If your doc recommends you have a procedure like that done in their clinic, find another doctor.

My last colonoscopy was done in Guadalajara by the chief of staff of GI in the teaching hospital. My GP, Juan Pablo Losa, took me there and assisted. I was sedated and when it was over I had a follow up consult with the doctor who went over the DVD of the procedure with me so that I had no questions. That is the way it should go. I don't remember the fees, but they were fair and the experience was as good as a colonoscopy could be.

I thought I'd add this story for anyone who still thinks it's ok to have these things done locally:

When I lived in Sayulita, I knew a nice woman about my age who was smart, well versed to life in Mexico, and the owner of a very successful Sayulita business.

One day she spotted an ad for a colonoscopy clinic in PV having a special and thought it had been a long time and she should do it. So she did.

During the procedure, they accidentally nicked the bowel. Remember, this place specialized in colonoscopies, it happens. BY THE TIME they realized something was wrong and BY THE TIME THEY figured out she was bleeding out and BY THE TIME THEY CALLED AN AMBULANCE AND ONE SHOWED UP, she was extremely critical. They took her to the closest hospital (which was only a few minutes away - not an hour in traffic) with a surgical unit and saved her life.

It was a few months before she returned to work and when I finally saw her she was still pale and shaky and the first thing she said to me was "I almost died!".